Putin ordered police to more actively search for "crimes" by Russians on the Internet.
The Ministry of the Interior must increase efforts to search for crimes on the Internet. This is what Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his greetings on the occasion of the Workers' Day of the Ministry of the Interior.
According to Putin, Russian citizens themselves want stronger police control in cyberspace. They "expect the internal bodies to more effectively fight crime, including illegal drug trafficking and cybercrime, and strengthen public order," the president noted.
"You have serious technical, operational, analytical and organizational skills at your disposal. In recent years, the scope of your powers has increased, including in operational investigative activity and at the procedural level," Putin recalled.
According to OVD-Info, since the beginning of the war, the Russian security forces have opened 2,388 cases of "extremism" and 1,403 cases of "anti-war", including cases of statements on the Internet, defined as "forgeries about the army". Another 253 cases were opened against "foreign agents", which registered 1.2 thousand people.
Since the summer, Russia has had a law of administrative responsibility for searching for extremist material on the Internet. This involves fines between 3 and 5 thousand rubles, while using a VPN is an aggravating circumstance.
From next year, censorship laws could be tightened again, with online comments considered a "serious" crime.
More details.
Sign up for .
Buy a reliable VPN.